THE COVID-19 pandemic has affected many economic sectors in Malaysia with the tourism industry beings among the hardest hit. The pandemic has affected international and domestic travel which led to the cancellation of Visit Malaysia 2020.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac), the loss suffered by the country’s tourism and culture industries in the first half of 2020 was about RM45 bil.
In 2019, the tourism industry contributed RM86.14 bil to the Malaysia economy with 26.1 million international tourists visited Malaysia throughout the year. In 2018, the tourism industry contributed 15.2% of total gross development product (GDP).
In order to revive the tourism industry which is one of the important sectors for economy development, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture had issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the tourism and cultural sector which includes the arts and cultural subsector and hotel subsector.
On the same note, Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) through Tourism Productivity Nexus (TPN) initiative has developed the COVID-19 Adopt and Adhere Guidelines (Garis Panduan Patuh dan Amal COVID-19) for tourism industry players to restart and continue their business operations and tourism activities in the face of the new normal.
The guidelines were launched on July 14 last year through a webinar series on Government-issued SOPs related to COVID-19 to instill awareness and disseminating information related to COVID-19 SOP compliance.
Meanwhile, the guidelines were piloted at the end of 2020 with 88 companies and homestays having been conferred with the Certificate of COVID-19 Compliance: Adopt and Adhere Guidelines and Relevant Government SOP on COVID-19.
Companies had to go through the certification process comprising self-declaration on compliance and online site assessment in order to be certified with the compliance certificate.
“Business activities need to be balanced with the measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic in safeguarding the economic sustainability and maintaining productivity,” MPC director general Datuk Abdul Latif Haji Abu Seman pointed out.
“Compliance with COVID-19 SOP is the only way to achieve this balance. The pilot project has also proven that businesses are still able to remain productive by complying with the SOP.”
So far, the 88 certified companies fall in the categories of travel agencies, adventure tourism operators, event management companies, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and event venues, homestays and kampong stays, and tourism products/sites.
Among them are Hotel Seri Malaysia Genting, Boraombak, Gopeng Glamping Park Travels Sixty Six Sdn Bhd, Taman Rama-Rama and Reptilia Ayer Keroh and Villa Istana Melak. – Jan 8, 2021
